BCA 2.0

[blastco2]

Just to be clear, I never once told anyone to use these on any ham freq. To get the maximum use from them, And not to cause any harmful interference to commercial or govt users, only the frs/gmrs and murs freq should be programmed into the ccr's.

And by the way Christopher, do you ever exceed the speed limit? Fail to come to a complete stop? Drive your sled faster than 45 mph? Forget to register your vehicle before it expires? Have the emergency brake switch cable connected when you are towing your sled trailer? Use the left turn lane to merg into traffic? Make a left turn from the left lane into the right lane? Use your turn signal each an every time? Follow closer than 2 seconds? Fail to shovel your side walk after every snow fall? Hmmm?

My work is done here.
Kindly cancel my membership.



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[NHRoadking]

Just to be clear, I never once told anyone to use these on any ham freq. To get the maximum use from them, And not to cause any harmful interference to commercial or govt users, only the frs/gmrs and murs freq should be programmed into the ccr's.

And by the way Christopher, do you ever exceed the speed limit? Fail to come to a complete stop? Drive your sled faster than 45 mph? Forget to register your vehicle before it expires? Have the emergency brake switch cable connected when you are towing your sled trailer? Use the left turn lane to merg into traffic? Make a left turn from the left lane into the right lane? Use your turn signal each an every time? Follow closer than 2 seconds? Fail to shovel your side walk after every snow fall? Hmmm?

My work is done here.
Kindly cancel my membership.



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Will you use your refund to buy a BCA?

 

[christopher]

Just to be clear, I never once told anyone to use these on any ham freq. To get the maximum use from them, And not to cause any harmful interference to commercial or govt users, only the frs/gmrs and murs freq should be programmed into the ccr's.

Point well made.!
I owe you an apology sir.

 

[snoballssnoglory]

I’ve had both versions. 1st version the mic freezes up and you can’t communicate. 2.0 my mic goes hot mic and jams everyone else. Really underwhelmed.
By the by... it takes very little effort to obtain an FCC license. Not a big fan of giving the feds more cash but it’s not that big of a thing.



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[Jason4]

Imho, The bca link is a seriously overpriced toy. If you could buy it direct from china, it would cost about $9 + shipping.

I also have serious issues with Mike Duffy being such a proponent of the link and his stupid 9-11 emergency channel idea. I had some respect for Mike and his avi knowledge/instruction until, he started bad mouthing the baofeng and promoting the link. Now I have to question everything he says...

Sorry, back on subject....
The link meets FCC criteria for the FRS channels. Never intended to reliably communicate more than 3/4ths of a mile. These things are really only good for just a little further than you can shout. You know, one side of the Wal-Mart to the other.

The baofeng bf-888 (2 watt uhf 16 channel) can be had for $10. I consider it junk but, still 3 times the radio that the link is.

Get a real, cheap Chinese radio so that, you can enjoy reliable comms in the backcountry.

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I'm done with my BCA radio. It has stopped reliably transmitting and I'm ready to give a Baofeng a try. I promise to stick with only the FRS/GMRS channels until I can get into a radio operators test as that's all that's really of any use to me.

Which radio would you recommend? I'm considering the BF-F8HP and the UV-5R MK3 but I'm open to others too. Just looking for something that I can carry in the mountains.

I've already looked into testing in my area and tests are offered every other month on Saturdays at the local SAR building but I'll be in the mountains on Saturdays until the snow melts which means I probably won't get in until June.

 

[christopher]

Which radio would you recommend? I'm considering the BF-F8HP and the UV-5R MK3 but I'm open to others too. Just looking for something that I can carry in the mountains.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MAULSOK/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_7?smid=AA3MGRC7F9EI2&psc=1


BaoFeng BF-F8HP (UV-5R 3rd Gen) 8-Watt Dual Band Two-Way Radio (136-174Mhz VHF & 400-520Mhz UHF) Includes Full Kit

 

[Jason4]

I just place the order, thank you!

 

[Timbre]

I just place the order, thank you!

If i recall, these come pre-programmed with HAM radio channels, so you will need to program it yourself to have the FRS and GMRS channels. These can be programmed manually, but that is a little time consuming. If you want to do this with a computer, you will need to download the CHIRP program, and get an authentic programming cable from Amazon as well. Might also consider a shoulder mic. Makes it MUCH easier to communicate than digging out the radio.

 

[christopher]

If i recall, these come pre-programmed with HAM radio channels, so you will need to program it yourself to have the FRS and GMRS channels. These can be programmed manually, but that is a little time consuming. If you want to do this with a computer, you will need to download the CHIRP program, and get an authentic programming cable from Amazon as well. Might also consider a shoulder mic. Makes it MUCH easier to communicate than digging out the radio.

100% CORRECT
Hand programing this little economy radio is a MAJOR PAIN IN THE ASS...


Use the program and save yourself much screaming and knashing..

 

[Jason4]

I ordered the Baofeng FTDI cable from Amazon along with the radio that was linked above and also got the weatherproof remote mic. If all goes well with the first one I'll order a second one for the wife next week to replace her BCA radio. As soon as I put in the order last night I downloaded CHIRP and started to look at the user notes. I think it will make a lot more sense once I have a radio in hand. I found the FRS/GMRS frequencies in CHIRP but haven't found the CTCSS info for the subchannels yet. Anyone have a reference for those? Thanks for all the help and guidance!

*edit: I found a partial list of CTCSS tones here.*
*edit 2: here's an even better explanation and link to CTCSS tones and DCS codes https://www.k0tfu.org/reference/frs-gmrs-privacy-codes-demystified/*

 

[Timbre]

I hope you got the correct cable or you might have a little trouble getting it to work. The authentic ones work perfectly. The programming video link is below.

Programming Radios (maybe the best one)
https://youtu.be/-cUmyElf1MI

No need for the subchannels, just the straight channels gives you plenty of choices.

I hope this is helpful.

 

[rkm]

Welp Im sending this back to BCA. Stopped working altogether. Just beeps constantly.

 

[Bocephus]

I am on my 3rd or 4th year with the original BCA. I have had 2 complaints that I was able to remedy. Last weekend we had 2 original BCAs and 2 of the 2.0 BCAs in the group. All 4 worked perfect with no complaints.

Original BCA 1.0 issues

1. Deep powder days would ice up the mic
---fix - frog skinz makes a cover for it. Its cheep and works perfect

2. The channel did accidentally get changed a few times.
---fix - we always use the same channel, so I program all letters to be the same channel.

 

[Jason4]

I hope you got the correct cable or you might have a little trouble getting it to work. The authentic ones work perfectly. The programming video link is below.

Programming Radios (maybe the best one)
https://youtu.be/-cUmyElf1MI

No need for the subchannels, just the straight channels gives you plenty of choices.

I hope this is helpful.

Got the radio today, used CHIRP to program the 22 FRS/GMRS frequencies in without sub-channels (now I know they're tones) plus the normal channels that I use with different groups around here plus the local weather broadcast on Rx only. At first it seemed like the learning curve was going to be steep but it went pretty quick. There are a few tricks with CHIRP that I still need to figure out like batch settings and copying stock config settings in batches but that'll come.

I checked it against my BCA radio and got a good comms check as best as I could listening to one while broadcasting with the other in the same room.

Thanks for all the help!

 

[Timbre]

Seems like there was a little info on that YouTube link about copying the stock (back up) configuration . . .?

You will enjoy the Baofeng radio(s). They are very compact and capable. We use the MURS channels when ATV riding. No one is on those. Wish all of my sled riding buds would get these radios and we could use the MURS channels in the winter too. Seems like there is some competition for the "regular" channels most days. One other thing i did was upgrade to the longer (super flexible) antenna, and let it stick out the zipper of the Avi pack. Better range with this antenna.

Link to antenna
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KC4PWQ...olid=1P36ZE5NJQK2K&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

 

[Jason4]

Seems like there was a little info on that YouTube link about copying the stock (back up) configuration . . .?

You will enjoy the Baofeng radio(s). They are very compact and capable. We use the MURS channels when ATV riding. No one is on those. Wish all of my sled riding buds would get these radios and we could use the MURS channels in the winter too. Seems like there is some competition for the "regular" channels most days. One other thing i did was upgrade to the longer (super flexible) antenna, and let it stick out the zipper of the Avi pack. Better range with this antenna.

Link to antenna
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KC4PWQ...olid=1P36ZE5NJQK2K&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

The first thing that I did when I connected CHIRP was upload the base config from the radio and saved it to my radio folder then I saved a copy and started making changes. Worked like a charm but it really isn't too different than what I do for work, just a different tool and different configuration data.

It would be nice if everyone got these. If my trial run goes well this weekend I'll get one more for the wife next week and I'll clone my config to her radio.

 

[sledhead9825]

You can buy them from RGM on Snow and mud, with mic, big antenna programmed ready to go.

 

[Timbre]

You can buy them from RGM on Snow and mud, with mic, big antenna programmed ready to go.

Can you post a link?

 

[rkm]

Welp Im sending this back to BCA. Stopped working altogether. Just beeps constantly.

It took 11 days but BCA finally decided to send me a new one. Well see how long this takes now

 

[rkm]

And another week for shipping from WA to ID. Sure hope this works better than the last.